Spelling Bee Winner

2011 St. Johns County School District Spelling Bee Winner Grace Remmer

Grace Remmer, a sixth grade home school student, won the 2011 St. Johns County School District Spelling Bee held today at the School Board Administration Building. She won by spelling the word “barrage” correctly. Grace is the daughter of Raymond and Jennifer Remmer of St. Augustine. Thirty-one elementary and middle school students from 25 public, one charter, two home schools, and three private schools competed for the honor of representing St. Johns County in the Regional Spelling Bee. The regional competition is scheduled for February 19 in Jacksonville. If for any reason the winner is not able to attend, runner-up Gustavo Navar of Palmer Catholic Academy will represent the county. It took twenty-six rounds for the winner to be determined. The participants were congratulated by School Board members Bill Fehling, Bill Mignon and Bev Slough, and Superintendent Dr. Joseph Joyner. WFOY-1240 AM Radio broadcast the event live. Media Services also taped the bee and will air it via Comcast SEA-TV Channel 24 next week. The annual spelling bee is sponsored by the Florida Times-Union. The winner of the regional bee will advance to compete in the national spelling bee scheduled June 1-2 in Washington, D.C. Laurie Hays, Program Specialist for Elementary Language Arts, served as the spelling bee coordinator. Pronouncer was Lyla Springfield, Grants Coordinator. Judges for the event were Sandy Waldeis of Catholic Charities; Sheila Veatch, Secondary Language Arts/Reading Specialist; and Jim Welu, Retired Director for Student Services.